A Bit of This and That
by Moonlight Shadow4
Summary: A collection of drabbles, varying from romance to humor. Rating may go up depending on drabbles included.
1. The Rewards of Education

**Title: **_The Rewards of Education  
_**Word Count**: 199  
**Rating**: PG - for the word 'hell'.  
**Genre**: Canon fic/Romantic overtones  
**Pairings**: Inuyasha/Kagome  
**Summary**: Kagome finally aces a math test, and in her celebration, she gives the ill-tempered hanyou the perfect greeting.

Uploaded on: January 2, 2005

* * *

Kagome clambered out of the well. Even with her heavy pack, she felt as if nothing could get her down. She felt strong enough to take on Naraku and Kikyou at the same time and win.

The reason for her jubilation: She'd aced her first Trig test in months.

Kagome couldn't keep the giggles contained even as she bowed forward beneath her bag's weight. Taking a few steps forward, Kagome giggled more as the distinct sound of loose clothing flapping approached her. She yielded her load to him as it was slipped from her back.

"Keh," he began his normal pretend-to-be-pissed rant, "you're late, again. What the hell were you dawdling for – "

She whirled to face him. "Inuyasha!" she cried happily, rushing towards him, ignoring his peevishness. "I aced my Trig test. We have to celebrate!"

Inuyasha blinked in surprise, not only when she threw her arms around his neck, but when her lips met his in an overjoyed kiss. Just as he was getting a feel for her soft lips, Kagome pulled away – red in the face and stuttering apologies.

Inuyasha watched as she toddled ahead of him, and suddenly he realized he liked studying _very_ much.


	2. Snow Angels

**Title:** _Snow Angels_  
**Rating:** G  
**Genre:** Romance/some humor  
**Pairings:** Inu/Kag  
**Word Count: **200  
**Summary:** After waiting for her to return, Kagome shows Inuyasha how to make snow angels...

**A/N: **Sorry if they don't make snow angels in Japan or anything...just thought it was cute...

Uploaded on: January 13, 2005

* * *

Inuyasha rested his elbows on the well's lip. His breath frosted and snowflakes drifted down the shaft. 

A flash of light and the sound of someone at the bottom of the well caught his attention.

Kagome had returned. She beamed at him when he took her bag and fished her out.

"And where have you been?" Inuyasha grumped, warming his hands in the sleeves of his haori.

Kagome giggled. "Making snow angels."

"Snow angels?"

"Yeah. Come on, let me show you." With another laugh, Kagome pushed him backwards into the snow. He growled up at her before she plopped down beside him. "You need to lie down. Then you move your arms and feet like this," she said, demonstrating.

Curious, Inuyasha mimicked her strange actions. He stood up and stepped away, just as she did.

"See?"

He gazed at the impressions in the snow she called "angels." He snorted and turned away. "Snow angels are stupid."

"Hey..." The hurt was evident in her voice.

He looked to her, whispering, "I have a real one right here." A smile crossed his mouth at her stupefied face. "Come on," he said, slipping off his haori and draping it over her, "let's go."


	3. Understanding

**Title: **_Understanding_  
**Rating:** PG (for the word 'bastard')  
**Pairings: **implied Inuyasha/Kagome, and remembered Inu no Taisho/Izayoi  
**Genre: **Introspective/Romance/slight Drama  
**Word Count: **200  
**Summary: **Love is more than words.  
**A/N: **Forgot to upload this a while ago… Hehe…

Original Upload On: February 24, 2005

* * *

It was only a soft brush, the way she had touched his hands. The words she had spoken, tenderly, left a trembling feeling of wonderment in his heart even now. 

_Inuyasha...I understand..._

It was in these words he heard all he needed to hear. The one who understood him, who loved him...it was his duty to protect her. He couldn't utter such words – ones of love and care; of understanding and devotion; not when his obligation, unfinished, was to another.

_Inuyasha...I understand_...

Fate had taunted him from the very beginning – a hanyou, a bastard child with mixed heritage – outcast and misunderstood. Always to be hunted and always the first to be blamed.

_Inuyasha...I understand..._

The memories of his parents faded each day, but there were three truths he had learned from them.

Love was more than words.

In love, there is protection; they had suffered in their love for each other, and in their love for their child. In love, there is understanding; they had been in love.

The sword at his hip was proof enough. His father had it forged for one reason: to protect the one he loved.

He swore he would use it for the same reason.


	4. Perspective

3rd Place Winner for the LiveJournal Community _IYFicChallenge._

**Title:** _Perspective_  
**Rating: **PG/K+  
**Genre: **Introspective, maybe slightly dramatic  
**Pairings:** If you squint really hard you might be able to see some faintly implied Inuyasha/Kagome (Heck, let's throw Miroku/Sango here too).  
**Word Count: **296  
**Summary:** Shippou reflects on what a gift can be. Sometimes, it's not something physical - it's just something that is there.

Uploaded on: June 27, 2005

* * *

Pa used to say that there were all sorts of gifts everywhere. When Shippou was really small, he didn't understand. He figured gifts were the things his parents gave him because they loved him. But, Pa always insisted that anything was a gift, if one just knew how to look at it.

When Pa was killed by Hiten and Manten, Shippou didn't see how that was a gift at all. He'd lost his family, his home, and the life he'd known – all in one morning. Surely that couldn't have been a gift.

But...maybe it just depended on how he looked at it.

Around the dying campfire, the faces of his friends were warmed by the embers' soft glow. Each one of them, even stubborn Inuyasha, leaned against the hut's wall, cared about him. Shippou knew that.

If Pa hadn't been killed, he would've never stumbled across Kagome and Inuyasha.

And if he'd never met them, he surely would've never met Miroku or Sango.

There would be no sweets from Kagome's world, playing with Kirara and Sango, getting into mischief with Miroku, or playing tricks on Inuyasha (that was his favorite thing after eating sweets).

If Pa hadn't been killed, he would've never worried about Naraku. At most, the only thing Shippou would have worried about would have been Kouga's tribe driving the small youkai like himself out of their homes.

Well, maybe he would've met Inuyasha, Kagome, and the others that way, but it still wouldn't be the same.

Shippou snuggled back against Kagome's arm.

They all cared for each other. Everyone just showed it in his or her own way. But that was okay, Shippou decided, as he started to fall back asleep.

Kagome, Inuyasha, Miroku, Sango... They would all be there in the morning.


	5. The Winds of Despair

**Title: **The Winds of Despair (Have Not Won Yet)  
**Rating:** PG  
**Genre:** Introspective, perhaps a little Drama/Angst  
**Pairings:** If you look really hard, you'll see a dash of Sango/Miroku  
**Word Count: **296  
**Summary:** Miroku reflects on both the curse that may take his life as well as what pushes him to continue on. Miroku-centric.

Original Upload: June 28, 2005

* * *

From atop this hill, Miroku could see Kaede's entire village. But from this height, the winds were much stronger and they writhed around the trees without care.

The houshi stared at the glove that covered his cursed right hand. He curled it into a tight fist, the sealing beads pressing into the still-flesh parts of his palm. _If I continue on like this, how much longer do I have until my Kazaana swallows me whole?_

Closing his eyes, Miroku listened to the disenchanting melody the wind whispered in his ears.

It seemed to say, _"Only a little longer, Miroku. Only a little longer until I have you...until I draw you into the void within your hand...and you will fade into nothingness...just as you fall now into despair..."_

Perhaps it was true. Perhaps he was being drawn deeper into the desperate realization that he was a man whose days were numbered.

He tried to act carefree to keep his friends from worrying further, but every night that they had yet to defeat Naraku, Miroku could see the phantoms of worry and sympathy cloud their gazes.

Miroku was a man who hated to be pitied. Yet, somehow, knowing that each one of his friends had a past as scarred as his gave him solace – that it was empathy in their eyes, and not pity. Perhaps it was this bond of despair that made their group so strong.

"Houshi-sama," he heard Sango call, the wind dying down. "Inuyasha's ready to leave. Let's go before he gets really impatient."

He nodded once, hearing her hesitate before leaving.

"_...only a little longer until I have you..."_ the wind murmured as it faded away. _"Only a little longer before you die..."_

Miroku lightly smiled. "Maybe so, but I am not dead yet."


End file.
